Maserati Sintesi concept news - Original Sin' - 2008

Even three years on, we still remember Pininfarina's astonishing Maserati Birdcage 75th concept with rose-tinted nostalgia. But at this year's Geneva show, the Italian design house will unveil a successor to the fantastical Maser in the shape of the Sintesi concept car.

Beyond this lightly pencilled sketch, we don't know much about the Sintesi - Italian for 'summary', by the way. But Pininfarina says it will blend themes from the Birdcage and its 2004 Nido concept, an unassuming, VW Up!-ish city car. We're guessing the Sintesi will lean much more towards the latter than the former.

There's no word on any technical details, but since Pininfarina is aiming to build an electric car in-house by the end of the year, expect a battery pack to lurk somewhere beneath the Sintesi's curved, folded skin.

We'll get the skinny (no, still can't make that sound cool) on the Sintesi in Geneva in early March.